Man awarded damages in Honda asbestos case

Tokyo – A man was awarded 54 million yen in an asbestos related lawsuit against automaker Honda Motor Co earlier this month. As reported by Japan Today, former mechanic Hidenari Hane, 61, alleged he developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure during his employment at a Honda factory during the 1960s.

Tokyo District Court Presiding Judge Koichiro Matsumoto is quoted in the report as stating in her ruling, “The risks of being exposed to asbestos had been known by the time the pneumoconiosis law was enacted in 1960 at the latest, and a major company like Honda should have been fully aware of the risks and the damages at the factory were foreseeable.”

Hane was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007. Honda Motor Co has reportedly expressed intentions to appeal the ruling.